Already known (FR-2036095, FR-2596728) are devices for filling crates with floating objects such as fruits, for example apples. Such a device includes a receiving tank for a crate to be filled, a device for loading/unloading a crate into/from the tank and a supply channel of a hydraulic flow to an upper portion of the tank. A pump is provided for drawing the liquid flow from the bottom of the tank and thus providing a throughput through the tank in order to fill the crate with objects floating in the flow arriving in the supply channel. In practice, this pump is a centrifugal pump, necessitating the use of an upstream filter and selected solely in order to provide an appropriate filling delivery for the tank.
In an installation incorporating such a filling device, another pumping circuit supplied by one or more other pump(s) must be provided to form the supply delivery circulating in the supply channel, with an upstream bypass branch dividing said supply delivery into a part forming the filling delivery and another part forming a bypass delivery, which does not pass through the tank and is generally recycled into another tank upstream of the supply channel. In practice, the filling delivery must be selected to ensure filling of the crate as rapidly as possible but nevertheless without risk of damaging the floating objects. The supply delivery in its turn is so determined as to ensure transportation of the floating objects to the entrance of the tank and depends on factors independent of the filling circuit, in particular the number of accumulation channels opening into the supply channel and continuously supplying it with water. In general, the amount of the supply delivery is therefore far greater than that of the filling delivery. The necessary use of several different pumps, and in particular a centrifugal pump with a specific upstream filter for the supply delivery, adds significantly to the cost of such an installation.